Portugal ran on renewable energy sources for 107 hours

20 May 2016 |
Environment

Portugal has broken the record for the most number of hours running straight on 100 percent renewable energy sources in the European Union.

The Iberian country powered its electricity for 107 hours through solar, wind and hydro energy from May 7th (6.45am) until May 11th (5.45pm). In 2015, the wind was responsible for providing 22 percent of the energy consumed in Portugal; all clean, renewable sources account for 48 percent of the nation's yearly power consumption.

Portugal, who once was the biggest CO2 emission producers in the Old Continent, is becoming one of the most sustainable energy producers, and fossil fuels will be ruled out for the next decade.

There are a few regions in Portugal with 300 days of sunshine each year, and other areas where the wind is blowing on a daily basis. Portugal, one of the oldest independent nations in Europe, does not have any nuclear power plants.

"Portugal has been investing considerably in renewables, particularly in electricity, since this will be the main final energy within the next decades with the transition from fossil fuels in road transportation to electric vehicles," Francisco Ferreira, president of the environmental NGO Zero, tells The Independent.

In 2014, Portugal's total energy consumption hit 21,68 Mtoe (Million Tonnes of Oil Equivalent). The total wind power production reached 4922MW.

"We are seeing trends like this spread across Europe - last year with Denmark and now in Portugal. The Iberian peninsula is a great resource for renewables and wind energy, not just for the region but for the whole of Europe," Oliver Joy, spokesman for the European Wind Energy Association, added to The Guardian.